A/N: I'm so glad you're all loving the Jay/Cami scenes; I had so much fun writing them. There's more in this chapter, as well as a Jay/Erin scene, and Erin finally founds out the truth about Jay and Hailey.
"Finish your breakfast, Cami," Erin instructed. "We don't want to make Uncle Jay late for work."
Cami shook her head. "No," she said defiantly. "Fwuit Woops!"
Erin sighed. She really didn't have the energy to argue this morning. "Cami, Uncle Jay only has Cheerios," she informed her daughter. "We'll get some Fruit Loops today, but right now you need to finish your cheerios."
"No!" Cami yelled, throwing her spoon across the room. "No Cheyos. Fwuit Woops!"
Jay chose that moment to walk into the kitchen, taking in the scene. Erin was sitting at the table with her daughter, looking like she was close to tears, and Cami was sitting in her booster seat, her arms crossed, pouting. "Hey, Cami," he said, deciding to intervene for Erin's sake. "Guess what?"
"What?" the little girl asked, still pouting.
"If you add a little bit of sugar to your cheerios, they taste just like Fruit Loops," Jay informed Cami, hoping she'd fall for it. He pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and poured himself a bowl of Cheerios, despite the fact that he'd already had breakfast, and added a little bit of sugar to it. "Mmm," he said, taking a bite. "Do you want to try?"
Cami nodded, so Jay walked over to where she'd thrown her spoon, picking it up and rinsing it off before walking over to her, spoon and sugar in hand. He sprinkled just a tiny amount of sugar in her bowl, and the little girl quickly began gobbling down her breakfast.
"Thank you," Erin said, getting up and heading to the sink to rinse out her own bowl. "She's not usually like this; I just think all of the changes of the past week are starting to get to her."
"No problem," Jay replied. "She's been through a lot this past week, especially for a two year old."
When the three of them got to the district, Cami insisted that her Uncle Jay carry her, rather than her mom. Erin sighed, prepared to argue with her, but Jay stopped her. "It's okay; I don't mind," he assured her, reaching out and taking the toddler from her.
Hank was waiting for them when they walked up the stairs to the Intelligence bullpen. "Good news," he told Erin. "We got the results back from the lab; the fingerprints on the shells belong to a perp I put away several years ago that was just released from prison. Patrol is on their way to pick him up now."
"So it's not connected to me at all?" Erin asked.
Hank nodded. "Completely unrelated," he assured her.
Erin's shoulders sagged with relief. "Does that mean it's safe to go back to your place now?"
"As soon as we get confirmation that he's in custody, yes," Hank replied.
An hour later, the news came in that the man had been taken into custody and would be going back to prison for threatening a cop. Erin quickly packed up the toys that Cami had been playing with in the break room to keep her occupied. "Come on, Peanut. We're going back to Grandpa Hank's house," she told her.
"I still have the rest of her stuff in the truck," Jay informed Erin, leaning against the door frame. "I'll drive you to Hank's."
Erin shook her head. "That's not necessary," she replied. "You can just throw it in Hank's car. There's nothing in there that we need before tonight."
"Come on, Erin. It doesn't make sense for you to walk or take the L when I can drive you," Jay insisted.
Erin sighed, knowing she wasn't going to change his mind. "Fine," she said. "But only because I don't have the energy to argue with you."
Jay poked his head in Voight's office. "I'm going to run Erin and Cami back to your place," he informed his boss. "I'll be back soon."
Hank eyed the detective suspiciously. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him the number of excuses he was finding to spend time with Erin and Cami. "Take Haley with you," he instructed.
Jay nodded, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. God, Hank could be so annoying sometimes. He'd been hoping to get a chance to talk to Erin about last night on the way back to Hank's, but that definitely wouldn't be possible with Hailey along. "Hey, Hailey," he called, walking over to her desk. "Hank wants us to take Erin and Cami back to his place."
Hailey looked up, surprised. "He wants us both to go?" she questioned.
Jay shrugged. "That's what he said. I'm going to so see if Erin needs any help if you want to pull the truck around," he called over his shoulder, heading back towards the break room.
Erin was struggling to convince Cami that it was time to go. The little girl looked to be on the verge of a meltdown as Erin patiently explained, "You'll see Grandpa Hank tonight, but right now it's time for us to go, okay?"
Cami shook her head hard. "No!" she insisted, stomping her foot.
Erin sighed, giving up on reasoning with the girl and instead scooping her up in her arms. Cami immediately began kicking and screaming. "No go! No go!"
Erin grunted as one of Cami's feet made contact with her thigh. "Camille, please," she begged softly, making her way towards the break room door. "You need to stop screaming." Cami ignored her, continuing her tantrum, and Erin grimaced. "Sorry," she told Jay as she passed him. "It might be a noisy drive."
Erin carried Cami, still kicking and screaming, down the stairs and into the lobby, where she received some judgmental looks from the cops milling about. She felt like crying herself. She was exhausted and already had a headache that was quickly turning into a migraine thanks to her daughter's screaming.
"Do you want me to take her?" Jay offered, wincing as he watched Cami's foot once again make contact with Erin's thigh.
Erin shook her head. "No, it's okay. She doesn't get like this often, but when she does, she doesn't want anyone but me," she informed him.
Jay nodded, hurrying ahead to open the door for Erin. As she walked past him, Cami reached out her arms. "Unca Jay!" she cried.
Erin looked at Jay in surprise but shrugged and handed over her daughter. While Cami continued to scream once she was in Jay's arms, it wasn't quite as loud, and she wasn't kicking anymore.
"What did you do, break the baby?" Hailey teased as Jay and Erin approached.
"Believe it or not, he fixed the baby," Erin laughed. "You should have seen her before." She turned to take her daughter from Jay so that she could strap her into her car seat, but Cami refused to let go of Jay's shirt.
"It's ok," Jay assured Erin. "I can sit in the back with her. You can ride up front with Hailey."
"Are you sure?" Erin asked. "Fair warning, she's just going to continue to scream in her car seat."
Jay nodded. "You look like you could use the break," he told her. He climbed into the back, placing Cami in her seat. He stared at the straps for a minute, trying to figure it out, before giving up. "Uh, Erin? I might need your help getting her strapped in," he admitted sheepishly.
Erin laughed, heading around to the other side and climbing into the backseat so she could help. A few seconds later, Cami was strapped in and ready to go. She started to climb back out to get in the front seat, but Cami reached her hand out. "No, Mommy!"
Erin sighed, sitting back down and putting her seatbelt on. "Sorry, Hailey," she apologized. "Looks like you're playing chauffer today."
By the time they reached Hank's house, Cami had thankfully cried herself to sleep. Erin unbuckled her daughter and began to lift her out of the car seat, but Jay stopped her. "I've got her," he told her. "You just grab her stuff."
Erin nodded, relieved to have even a short break from carrying a tiny human around. She loved being a mother and adored her daughter, but being a single mother was exhausting. Back in New York at least she got a bit of a break when she was at work, but here in Chicago, she spent her entire day with Cami, and the only break she got was in the evenings after Cami went to bed.
"You can put her in my old room," Erin informed Jay as she and Hailey carried Cami's things inside. Jay nodded and headed up the stairs.
"It's like you never left," Hailey observed. "You'd think you two were still partners with how well you work together."
Erin shrugged. "I guess old habits die hard," she replied. She turned to Hailey, wanting to take advantage of Jay not being within earshot. "Look, Hailey, I'm sure this has been awkward for you; I'm sorry about that. I just want you to know that I have no intentions of getting between you two."
Hailey looked at Erin, confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"Hank told me that you two have feelings for each other," Erin informed her. "I don't want to get in the way of that."
Hailey smiled sadly, shaking her head. "Erin, nothing will ever happen between me and Jay," she informed her. "Hank's not wrong, I do have feelings for Jay. But we'll never be anything more than just partners."
Erin smiled softly. "I used to tell myself that, too," she informed the detective.
"You really don't know?" Hailey asked, surprised.
"Don't know what?" Erin asked slowly.
"Erin, Jay's still in love you," Hailey informed her. "That's why we'll never be anything more than just partners."
Before Erin had a chance to reply, Jay came down the stairs. "Cami's still sound asleep. I put her on the bed and put the safety rail up." He looked back and forth between Hailey and Erin. "What were you two talking about?"
"I was just warning Hailey not to let you drive," Erin teased, trying to push what Hailey had just told her out of her mind.
"Hey!" Jay protested. "I'm a good driver!"
"Sure," Hailey and Erin said in unison, making each other laugh.
Erin was about to say more when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID before answering. "Special Agent Lindsay." She listened for a moment, her face growing pale. "Are you sure?" she asked. She paused again, listening. "Okay, thanks for letting me know. Keep me updated," she said before hanging up, her hands shaking
"Erin?" Jay asked, concerned. "What's going on?"
"That was my partner in New York," Erin said, trying to keep her voice steady. "They were just updating me on my case."
Hailey and Jay exchanged a worried glance. It was obvious to both of them that there was something Erin wasn't saying.
"What did they say?" Jay asked.
"Umm, they were able to recover some DNA on a note that was sent to the office for me, and they were able to use that to narrow down a suspect," Erin stated, clenching her hands into fists in an effort to stop the shaking.
"So they know who it is?" Hailey asked.
Erin shook her head. "Not exactly," she said. "They still don't have a name. But, uh, the DNA came back matching the DNA from my rape kit. The person that's been threatening me and who tried to kill me and Cami is the same man that raped me."